Published online yesterday, the latest statistics on work-related health & safety reveal that the UK consistently has one of the lowest standardised rates of fatal injury across the EU, lower than other large economies and lower than the EU average.

Non-fatal injuries in the UK were at a similar level to other large economies in 2013. UK rates of work-related ill health resulting in sick leave were lower than most other EU countries.

Regarding the UK itself, other keys statistics (2018/19) include:

* 1.4 million working people suffering from work-related ill health* 2,526 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures (2017)* 147 workers killed at work* 581,000 injuries occurred at work according to the Labour Force Survey* 69,208 injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR* 28.2 million working days lost due to work-related ill health and workplace injury* £15 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions (2017/18)

Worryingly, the rate of self-reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety has shown signs of increasing in recent years and these latest figures show that a total of 12.8 million working days were lost due to this type of illness.

On the plus side, the rate of self-reported work-related musculoskeletal disorders showed a generally downward trend.

The downward trend of working days lost due to both fatal and non-fatal workplace injuries, self-reported work-related ill health and working days lost per worker due to self-reported work-related illness, continues, but it has flattened out in recent years.